80. 'Mother Nature's Son'

Main Writer: McCartney Recorded: August 9 and 20, 1968Released: November 25, 1968Not released as a single

After attending a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Lennon and McCartney each wrote songs about the experience. Lennon's was "Child of Nature," which he demo'd, but didn't record, for the White Album (it was later rewritten as "Jealous Guy"). McCartney's was this acoustic piece, which owed a debt to Nat "King" Cole's "Nature Boy," and to his relationship with Linda Eastman: "When Linda and I got together," he said, "we discovered we had this deep love of nature in common."

By the time McCartney recorded the song, the White Album sessions had nearly become simultaneous solo projects — "Mother Nature's Son" is one of four songs on the album that McCartney recorded by himself. He did the basic track on August 9th, after the rest of the band had gone home for the night, and returned to it 11 days later, playing drums (set up in a corridor to alter their sound) and overseeing a brass ensemble. When Lennon — who hated it whenever McCartney recorded without the rest of the band — walked in with Starr, "you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife," recalled engineer Ken Scott.